Buying and selling non-US currency (€, ¥, £, etc.).

[randomness]

I buy cash--paper or coin--from various countries, so that I have some spending money when I arrive. Often people have some left over when they return from their trips abroad, and find that local banks give them lousy rates for their paper money, and won't take their coinage at all. I'll change both paper or coin, at the prevailing rates displayed on xe.com. We both win because neither of us gets charged commission and we exchange at a rate neither of us could get from a bank.

(ladybird97 calls me the International Bank of Leon. This amuses both of us.)

If you have less than $50 or so in non-US currency that you're interested in selling, I may be able to exchange it for US dollars. Drop a comment, let me know what you'd like to sell, and if it's a currency I think I can exchange, we can arrange to meet up.

With regard to buying some of my non-US currency: I have some Estonian krooni and some Hungarian forints to sell. If you are looking to buy other currencies I might be able to help you but I'll have to check. Let me know.

Comments

[coraline]

i've got some forint (but it looks like you're full up on that right now) and some croation kuna that you probably have no use for...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Depends on how much of either you have; let me know and we can figure something out.

[tla]

I have 70 Slovakian crowns, which Barclays wouldn't take. It's not much but it's something. (And I would have had a lot more Czech, Polish, and Slovakian a couple of months ago. Alas.)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sure. Will you be back here sometime soon or should we try meeting over there at some point?

[tla]

I'll be back in mid-December sometime. So if you'll be over before that, come to Oxford. (Heck, come to Oxford anyway.)

[frotz.livejournal.com]

Is it safe to assume you don't care about nonnegotiable currency?

I've got some drachmae and francs (French-flavored) burning a hole in my pocket; you're more than welcome to them at prevailing rates, and if you're in either of the relevant places I'd be very curious to hear how the conversion process works in reality. (The European Central Bank says that I have ten years from the 2002 changeover before they become toilet paper.)

I've never seen a US option for changing them; most moneychangers seem to believe (incorrectly) that they're already worthless.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Is it safe to assume you don't care about nonnegotiable currency?

Unfortunately, it is.

I've got some leftover DM, Schillings, and Lire to deal with, myself.

[wolfkitn.livejournal.com]

well, i'll be seeing my hungarian relatives in february if you still have the forint hanging around at that time...

[coraline]

do you want to buy mine? :)

[wolfkitn.livejournal.com]

*chuckle!* um. let's talk closer to february?

[coraline]

ok... it's been sitting in my wallet for months, it will continue to sit there :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, I can get behind the theory that "one big pile is better than two little piles" and have your stack join mine then have both go over to wolfkitn at some later point.

Or, if you prefer you can work this one out between yourselves instead. :)

[coraline]

durnit, if i'd remembered the things were in my pocket this evening, i culd have sold them to you there. oops.
(i'm sure we'll see each other at some other point though, and they've been living in my wallet...)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Say, I never heard back about how much in forints and kuna you actually have...

[coraline]

15,000 forint, and 100 kuna :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Wow, okay, I can't commit on that much until I know I'm actually going to go to Central Europe.

On the bright side, those two currencies have been rising against the dollar lately, so you've been making money...

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I have $25 CAN that I could hang on to until next June when I go again, but I could probably make other use of the money before then if it were changed into US$.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sure. If you want, bring it with next time you're up and we can swap.

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

I still have some millions of Turkish lira (wow, that's fun to say). Though at the rate we see you, maybe I should give it to Tussy to give to you... :o)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, you know they're knocking some absurd number of zeroes off the lira sometime soon, right? When they do they're going to withdraw the old money.

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

I've got some pounds (and pence), both paper and coin. I haven't counted it yet, since we just got back from London this evening. I can get back to you with an actual amount.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Please do, and we can go from there.

[holmes-iv.livejournal.com]

I have some Euros and some Pounds, but I believe they belong to you anyway. Have to straighten that out sometime...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Okay, let me know when you'd be free to straighten that out...

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

BTW- what's a convenient way to open a bank account in a foreigh bank in a foreign denomination? Preferably a country with a stable economy.

[tla]

That answer varies wildly by foreign country. It's Very Very Hard to get anything other than "bank account accessible only via ATM card" in the UK, for example, because cheques are guaranteed to some value by the bank, ergo are a form of credit. Also they are kind of antsy about money laundering lately.

One option might be to talk to the US branch of a mostly foreign bank. I know some of them have branches in New York.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

In 1983, it was absurdly easy to go to Switzerland and open a Swiss bank account. U.S. citizens can't have numbered ones, though.

This may not be the help you were looking for, however...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I have a bunch of URLs saved on just this subject. Unfortunately, I'm not at the machine they're on. When I get back to that machine, though, I'll send them on.

[malkin.livejournal.com]

Hey, while I'm thinking about it, r, if you're ever down in Australia, look me up, man. ;)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I will! I was actually in Sydney a few months ago but thought you were still in the States. Silly me...